Game apparatus.



.No. 732,312. PATE NTED JUNE 30, 1903. G. J. MoLEOD. GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.11, 1902.

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UNITED STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

. PATENT OFFICE.

CLIFFORD J. 'MOLEOD, 'OF-HYDEPARK, -MASSACHUSETTS.

GAME APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,312, dated June 30, 1903. Application filed October 11 1902. Serial No. 126,827. on) model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, CLIFFORD J. McLEon, of Hydepark, county of Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Game Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to that character of game apparatus in which a box or casing is provided with a series of partitions or walls in a plane field containing a series of balls, the object of the game being to so manipulate or tilt the box that the balls will roll and be caused to simultaneously rest upon a certain portion of the field.

My invention consists of a casing or box having a series of parallel walls or partitions which extend alternately from opposite sides of the box and terminate at a suitable distance short of the side of the box opposite to that from which they extend, so as to form openings at opposite sides of the box, which connect alternate ends of the transverselyextending passages formed by the partitions, so that an inclination of the box which would cause the balls in one end of the field to roll toward a central goal may cause the balls at the opposite side of the goal to roll away from it unless it is carefully manipulated. This general prrinciple may be embodied in several different forms, which I have illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure l is a plan view of a game apparatus embodying one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section thereof on the line 00 as of Fig. 1. Figs. 3v and 4 are plan views of other forms of my invention.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the box or casing a is provided with the usual glass cover 17, the sides of said box being of rectangular form and inclosing a level bottom or field.

Said field is divided into a series of transversely-extending passages or alleys by a series of partitions c, 0, c c 0, and 0 The partitions c, 0 and o extend from one side of the box to within a short distance of the opposite side, while the partitions c, 0 and c extend from said opposite side to within a short distance of the side first named. The

four transversely-extending passages which are thus formed are of equal width and are connected at alternate ends by short longitudinally-extending passages of the same width. The two middle partitions c and c are provided with relatively short longitudinallyextending partitions d d of equal length, one being arranged near one side of the box and one near the other side thereof, so that they provide a longitudinally-extending recess at each side, which is in line with the correspon dingly-located longitudinal passages, which connect the ends of the transverse passages. The space between the short partitions d d is the goal, and the object of the game is to cause the six balls 9, which are placed in the passages, to roll so that they will all be contained in this goal at the same time, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. It will be observed that what renders this diflicult to accomplish is the fact that when the box is tipped so as to cause the balls which are located in one half of the field to roll to Ward the goal the same movement will cause the balls which'are in the-opposite half to roll away from the goal, so that much skill and careful ,manipulation are necessary in order to cause all the balls to roll into the middle position.

In Fig. 3 I illustrate another form of my invention which is perhaps more diificult of accomplishment than the form j ust described. In this form the field is provided with the transversely-exten ding partition g, which extends alternately from opposite sides of the casing, as described in Fig.1; but in this form I provide alongitudinally-extending partition h, midway between the sides and connecting the two partitions nearest the middle, so that there is no communication between opposite halves of' the field. In this instance the object of the game is to cause all the balls to roll substantially tothe positions shown in dotted lines, so that they will be in the open spaces at opposite sides of partition" h.

In the form shown in 4 a partition 2' is provided, which extends transversely of the field and divides it into two equal parts. A series of transversely-extending partitions 7e are provided, which extend alternately from opposite sides of the casing, as before described, except that in this instance the two partitions nearest the ends are connected with the same side of the casing, so that when all the balls are rolled to the center they may be held in the position shown in dotted lines by tilting the box in one direction, thus rendering the game somewhat more easy of accomplishment than in the case of the form of my invention shown in the two preceding figures. It will be observed that with the latter construction it is just as difficult to cause the balls to roll into the two end passages as to cause them to roll into the two middle passages; but it is believed to make the game more satisfactory to be able to tilt the box so as to hold the balls in the goals when the desired result has been accomplished.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that the three species described are the same generically, and the difficulties to be encountered are practically the same in each.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A game apparatus comprising a casing having a centrally-arranged goal and two or more transversely-extending,equidistant passages at each side thereof, openings being provided to connect the two passages next the goal to the goal at opposite points and to connect the two next succeeding passages to the passages next the goal at their ends respectively opposite the ends which are connected with the goal, and a series of balls in said passages the bottoms of which are fiat to permit the balls to roll freely therein at all points, substantially as described.

2. 'A game apparatus comprising a rectangular box or casing having a flat bottom, a series of transversely-extending partitions in each half thereof arranged regularly with respect to the center of the casing, each alternate partition being connected to one side of the casing and the other partitions being connected to the opposite side of the casing, thereby providing a series of parallel passages connected only at opposite ends in succession, a goal between the two partitions nearest the middle, two longitudinally-extending partitions connected to said latter partitions adjacent their opposite sides and ends, and each terminating short of the 0pposite transverse partition toward which it extends, whereby a transversely and longitudinally extending passage connects the goal and the transverse passages adjacent thereto at diagonally opposite points, and a series of balls free to roll in said passage, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CLIFFORD J. MoLEOD.

Vitnesses:

Louis H. HARRIMAN, MAUD M. PIPER. 

